At the age of seven Cardona's family baptized him "Manolo".This would later be used as his name as an actor. When he was eighteen he moved to Bogotá, Colombia, to finish his career studies. Manolo studied finances and international relations. Manolo's mother, Nancy Molano, is a psychologist and astrologer. His father, Javier Enrique Cardona, has devoted his life to politics, and was the mayor of Popayán. Manolo has two brothers. The eldest Francisco, is an agent and engineer, and the youngest Juan Jose, studies film direction in the University of Cataluña in Barcelona, Spain. One of his greatest passions is playing soccer.
He said in an interview for Cromos Magazine that " I always wanted to become a professional soccer player, and what really frustrated me was that my family nor I realized how much I loved playing the game. Carlos ‘el Pibe’ Valderrama was the only person I remember ever asking for an autograph."
In 2000 he was rumored to have dated Paola Rey who was his co-star in the soap opera Por que Diablos?. He has been romantically linked to Colombian model Catalina Maya, model Carolina Castro, model Carolina Delgado, and Colombian model Patricia Vasquez. For two years he dated actress and model Barbara Mori, his costar in La mujer de mi hermano. After their break up in 2005, he has been dating Brazilian model Katarina Sacht. He currently lives in Los Angeles California, but always travels back to his home in Colombia.
Manolo began modeling at a very early age. It was his eldest brother who introduced Manolo to a modeling agency, he was then quickly signed on to a contract, then at the age of fourteen he shot his first television commercial and began modeling professionally for TV commercials, photography, and including runways for several agencies in Colombia. When Cardona was eighteen, in 1995, he began his acting career on a popular Colombian Television series called "Padres e Hijos" in which he starred for three years. Then in 1998 he won his first lead role in the television soap opera "Carolina Barrantes". A year later he then became nationally and internationally known for the successful soap opera, "Porque Diablos?" in which he portrayed a young man who becomes part of a drug organization so he can avenge his friend's death by killing the head of the organization, in his revenge he falls in love with his boss' wife. Later in 2001 came "Amor a Mil" which was a highly popular Soap Opera in Colombia.
In 2002 he signed an exclusive contract with Telemundo and Argos Comunicación, and a year later in 2003 he starred in his first Mexican soap opera "Ladron de Corazones" which became a huge success. In "Ladron de Corazones" he worked opposite Lorena Rojas and Humberto Zurita. In it he portrayed "Gustavo Velasco", a man who returns to his home town in Mexico after ten years to avenge his father's death and clear his father's name. He was the host of Telemundo's Spanish version of Temptation Island, "La isla de la tentacion". He is also known for his role as "Sebastián" on the Mexican telenovela Gitanas. In Gitanas, Cardona starred as a man in love with a Gypsy woman (played by Ana de la Reguera), who has to fight against prejudice and tradition for his love. In 2005, the film Rosario Tijeras, Cardona's big-screen debut, was released in Colombia. The film was based on Jorge Franco's book of the same name. Cardona worked opposite Flora Martinez (playing Rosario Tijeras) and Unax Ugalde and was directed by Emilio Maille. The film was nominated for a Goya Award for best foreign film. In 2005 the film had its North American premiere at the American Film Institute Festival, in Hollywood.
In 2005 he starred in the film La mujer de mi hermano opposite Bárbara Mori and Christian Meier which was released in the United States in 2006. In 2006 he finished filming "Madrid-Mexico" with director Enrique Renteria. Cardona is working, with his brothers, on his two production companies "11-11 and Miramas". He is currently living in Los Angeles, California.
After two years of absence Manolo Cardona returned to work for Telemundo and Argos on the Telemundo soap opera production "Marina " after replacing Mauricio Ochmann as Ricardo. In "Marina" he worked alongside Humberto Zurita,( his co-star in Ladron de Corazones) Aylin Mujica, and Sandra Echeverría as the title character. The soap opera was filmed in Acapulco, Mexico.In 2008 both of his production companies (11:11 and Miramas) will produce a film in Colombia, while he will be filming in Mexico playing the character of a Psychotic Doctor. In 2008 he will return to Colombian television and star in a series produced by Caracol TV where he will play the character of a drug dealer.
On September 27, 2007 Manolo was awarded the "Latin Pride Award" in the Back Bay Events Center in Boston. The award honors the accomplishments of Hispanics of different areas and is a production of the Latin Pride Magazine. Manolo Cardona has signed on to the cast of the Disney film "Beverly Hills Chihuahua". The film is scheduled to release in 2008. The film also star Jamie Lee Curtis, Drew Barrymore, and Andy Garcia. Manolo is working on a documentary film about the life of the infamous drug dealer Pablo Escobar. The documentary will be edited in the United State and will begin filming in March 2008 in Colombia.
In 2008 Manolo will begin filming a series,"El Cartel de los Sapos" for Canal Caracol where he will play a drug dealer, the series will be filmed in Miami, New York, Colombia, Panamá and Madrid. The series will be followed by a film of the same name. The series and film were based on a book written by Andres Lopes alias "florecita", who wrote the book while his years in prison. The series was screened at the LA Screenings this year and the series is expected to air in 2008 in Colombia. Caracol tv will air the series of 40 episodos which stars Manolo Cardona, Karen Martinez, Diego Cadavid and Robinson Diaz. The series debuted on Caracol Tv on June 5, 2008, which received high ratings, for Colombian television. Many of the key actors returned to film the series after its completion. The series was originally scheduled for 40 episodes, but because of high ratings, Producers and Canal Caracol ordered more episodes of the series. No date is yet scheduled after the new scenes were added for the series' finale.
Beverly Hills Chihuahua had its LA premiere on September 18, 2008 at the El Capitan Theater. Manolo Cardona, Piper Perabo, Jaime Lee Curtis and George Lopez were just some of the stars of the film that appeared on the red carpet.
On November 3 Cardona began is filming "Contracorriente" in Peru. Cardona will play the character of a gay painter who arrives in a small town and falls in love with a married man. The film is curently in post-production. The film also stars Cristian Mercado and Tatiana Astengo. The film is directed by Javier Fuentes
He appeared in an episode of the second season of Tiempo Final titled "la entrega" which also co-starred his girlfriend Katarina Sacht. Tiempo Final is a remake of the Chilean series of the same name, and airs on Fox.
He will begin filming "La Ultima Muerte" alongside Kuno Becker, in 2009.
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